The Indian Super League (ISL) returns this month for its fifth season and for champions Chennaiyin FC, their campaign begins at the very place where their title-winning run concluded last time around.
Looking to win their third ISL title, Chennaiyin travel to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on September 29 to take on Bengaluru FC, the two sides having developed quite the rivalry in just the one season. It was here that John Gregory's men triumphed 3-2 in last year's final to trump Bengaluru on their own turf and it's where their fifth season will begin.
The champs then return home for their first two home games of the season, against FC Goa and NorthEast United on October 6 and October 18 respectively. Two away games, at Delhi Dynamos and ATK round off October.
A home game against Mumbai City in the first week of November is followed by more travel with dates at Pune City and Jamshedpur FC before a return home for a Southern Derby clash against Kerala Blasters in the last week of November.
December has three fixtures for the Chennai team beginning with a home engagement against ATK and then a visit to Mumbai City. The team concludes it's first half of the season with a home game against the Dynamos on December 15.
A lengthy break follows in the ISL schedule after that owing to the AFC Asia Cup and international friendlies with the fixture list for the second half set to be released at a later date accordingly.
Here is Chennaiyin FC's fixture list for the first half of the 2018/19 ISL season:
September 30: Bengaluru FC (A) - Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru
October 6: FC Goa (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
October 18: NorthEast United (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
October 23: Delhi Dynamos (A) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
October 26: ATK (A) - Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata
November 3: Mumbai City (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
November 6: Pune City (A) - Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune
November 25: Jamshedpur (A) - JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur
November 29: Kerala Blasters (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
December 2: ATK (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
December 6: Mumbai City (A) - Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai
December 15: Delhi Dynamos (H) - Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
(All matches are scheduled for 7:30 pm IST kickoff)
*(H) - Home games *(A) - Away games